Monthly Archives: December 2012

Earlier today, it was reported that heavily sought corner outfielder Cody Ross had signed a three-year, $26 million deal to play in Arizona.

Last week, the Phillies intense pursuit of Ross was reported. It was known that Ross wanted a three-year deal and the Phillies were willing to go after the 31-year-old left fielder who hit 22 homers, 81 RBIs and had a .267 average and .807 OPS.

Season in Review: For one of the top prospects in the Phillies farm system, 2012 didn’t quite measure up to Jiwan James’ past seasons in the minor leagues.

First off, James’ average was the lowest that it has been at any point during his time in the Phillies organization. The Florida native hit a mere .249 in 111 games for the Reading Phillies and only posted a .291 on-base percentage.

The most eye-popping statistic was the drop-off in stolen bases for James. He went from stealing 31 bases with Clearwater in 2011 to only swiping 8 bags in 2012 with Reading. One constant was the fact that James was still being thrown out on almost half of his stolen base attempts. James was caught stealing 16 times in 2011 and 8 times this past season.

Lannan is a “low-risk, high-reward” move for Ruben Amaro, who said that was the type of player he was pursuing for his fifth starter. Kyle Kendrick will most likely be the fourth starter in the rotation now.

Lannan, 28, has a 42-52 record and 4.01 ERA in his six Major League seasons, all with the Nationals. Last year, Lannan went 4-1 with a 4.43 ERA in six starts.

Lannan’s history against the Phillies is almost infamous. Lannan is 3-13 against the Phillies with a 5.53 ERA in 19 career starts.

But the stat that really stands out are the 11 times Lannan hit a Phillies batter. The most famous was when he plunked Chase Utley in Lannan’s Major League debut on July 26, 2007, breaking his hand. On the next pitch, Lannan hit Ryan Howard and was immediately ejected.

“I don’t think he was trying to hit me,” Utley said after that game. “It kinda got away from him. He’s a young guy. He hit two guys in a row. I don’t think he was throwing at us.”

The list is headed by free agent catcher Humberto Quintero, who is the top candidate to back-up Erik Kratz while Carlos Ruiz serves his 25-game suspension. Quintero will compete with prospects Tommy Joseph and Sebastian Valle for that spot.

Quintero, 33, hit .232 in 43 games with the Kansas City Royals last season.

In an interesting report from ESPN’s Buster Olney, the New York Yankees will bring back Ichiro Suzuki for another season.

But what’s interesting about that is that Suzuki reportedly declined a two-year, $14 million offer from the Phillies to sign the one-year deal with New York.

The Phillies are in need of another corner outfielder and the pursuit of Ichiro became a curious one. Ichiro isn’t exactly known for his pop, especially with Cody Ross, Nick Swisher and Josh Hamilton still out there.

The price tag and years that Ross, Swisher and Hamilton are asking for must be turning off the Phillies. Hamilton is still trying to land a five-year deal somewhere while Swisher and Ross want four and three years respectively.

Suzuki, 39, would have made a nice lead-off hitter, but that would have given the Phillies an outfield of Suzuki, Domonic Brown, Ben Revere and Darin Ruf. The only way that deal would have made sense is if the Phillies then traded Brown for 36-year-old Alfonso Soriano, which would have continued to increase the age of the team.

It was made official Sunday morning that the Phillies acquired 3B Michael Young and cash from the Texas Rangers for reliever Josh Lindblom and prospect Lisalverto Bonilla.

It was a good fit for both teams, with the Phillies needing a third baseman and Young wanting to continue to compete as he waived his no trade clause to Philadelphia.

“The baseball part was easy,” Young told reporters on Monday in Texas. “I have a great opportunity in Philadelphia, having the opportunity to go from one great team to another. They have a position for me; I was ready for a new challenge. I like a new challenge. As a competitor, I want to see what it’s like. The hard part was my family and what it would be like for them, being away for a summer. But once we embraced that, the baseball part was easy.”

The Phillies filled a huge hole at third for one season, prolonging their search for a more permanent solution at the hot corner. They did so without giving up too much, especially while boasting a deep and rich farm system of pitchers.

Lindblom was acquired in the Shane Victorino trade to the Dodgers before the deadline last season. He didn’t really wow the Phillies coaches, especially in late-game situations where they wanted him to pitch. Lindblom posted a 4.19 ERA in 38 2/3 innings of work in the 8th inning or later during the entire season.

Miner, 30, hasn’t played in the Majors since the 2009 season. He had Tommy John surgery in 2010 and has pitched in the Tigers farm system ever since.

In 157 Major League games, 35 of them starts, Miner has a 25-20 record with a 4.24 ERA. Last season in 29 Minor League games, Miner posted a 2-0 record with a 2.79 ERA while striking out 23 and walking 22 in 42 innings of work.

Miner isn’t the impact reliever the Phillies are looking for, instead just an insurance piece that could be called up during the season if someone gets hurt, or if Miner performs well with the IronPigs.